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Prosperity Volume 1
Chief Editor-Enrique_Mendoza To Whomever May Choose To Read or Observe My Magazine, The inspiration for this magazine was conceived after I found out the family myth that my great-Grandfather knew Al Capone through the Chicago Union Force. While it’s not necessarily a story that my family is proud of, it is definitely exciting to think that that could be true. After hearing that story, I began surfing the Internet to find out if it was true and/or any information about the Mafia. While I never found any truth behind our family story, I did get introduced to the glorious, but dark life of a Mafioso. While I would never dream of committing the crimes they did or causing the trouble they did, it did spark interest in my head. I thought, “You know? This sort of stuff would be awesome in a movie.” Little did I know, several Oscar and Academy-award winning productions have been created involving the Mafia or mob. While it took me a while to get up the courage to ask my parents if I could watch The Godfather, finally being able to see the movie was worth all the stress and worrying I thought might occur as a result of me wanting to see that movie. One thing led to another, until I received the opportunity to do a detailed, high-level project of whatever topic I wanted. This was my chance! I now had a reason to see every mob movie I could ever dream of. While that wasn’t my only reason to want to study the Mafia, it was an incentive and added bonus. I hope that you will enjoy reading about all of the things I learned through reading many books and watching movies. Sincerely, Enrique_Mendoza 'Al Capone' Perhaps the most feared Mafioso of the 20th century, Al Capone lived a life that more than deserves to be written about and known around the world. Starting out as an apprentice of perhaps the first modern racketeer Johnny Torrio, Capone never imagined making money as a gangster. He had always thought of earning his pay legitimately as an adult. Perhaps the most important lesson Torrio taught Capone was that being cunning and intelligent, rather than forceful, could be used to make a fortune. Capone’s love life truly began at the age of nineteen when he had a child with neighbor Mary Coughlin on December 4th, 1918. The son would go on to be baptized as Albert Francis Capone, also known as “Sonny.” Nine days after the son was born, the two lovebirds got married. In order to better provide for his family, Capone and his wife and child moved to Baltimore where he landed a job as a bookkeeper for a construction company. He worked there for nearly two years before deciding to change careers. On November 14th, 1920 Capone's father, Gabriele, died of a heart attack. When Capone returned to New York for the funeral, he reunited with his previous employer, the racketeer Johnny Torrio. Torrio had moved his business to Chicago in hopes of greater fortunes and invited Capone to join him. In 1921, Capone moved to Chicago to launch his new career as a gangster and his wife and child, as well as his widowed mother and siblings, soon joined him. Capone's career as a gangster began when his former boss, the racketeer Johnny Torrio, moved to Chicago to help manage the business of vice lord James Colosimo. Soon after the move, a rival gangster killed Colosimo and Torrio took over his empire. In early 1921, Capone and his family moved to Chicago to work with Torrio. This was soon after Prohibition had begun, and the Torrio-Capone organization capitalized on the sale and distribution of illegal alcohol. This new venture added millions to the already profitable businesses of gambling. When Torrio left the organization for a couple of years to take care of his family, the Capone brothers continued to expand their organization. They solidified their interests in Chicago and began to spread their business to neighboring cities, such as Cicero. Eventually Capone formed business relationships in Michigan and New York as well. Capone protected his interests by bribing local police officers and politicians, killing rival gangsters, and endearing himself to the public. Outside of the criminal world, Capone was seen as a very generous and sociable man who was willing to help those in need. Though he was an uneducated man, he carried himself well in the public eye. He was always seen in elegant clothes and expensive jewelry, which were sure signs that his business was doing well. Much of Capone's success came from his ability to take advantage of the prohibition movement. On January 16th, 1919, Congress ratified the Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which prohibited the manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcohol. The amendment went into effect one year later, and so did the establishment of illegal means to produce, buy, and sell alcohol. Moonshine, or alcohol produced illegally, was made in homes and illegal breweries and sold and distributed by bootleggers. This was a lucrative business for many underground crime organizations, including Capone's. Law enforcement agencies and the government were never very successful at prohibiting alcohol production and sales. As time went on, public support for the amendment began to dwindle. Many argued that the poor quality of illegally produced alcohol and the gang violence associated with bootlegging were far more dangerous than the legal purchase and consumption of alcohol. In 1933, Congress ratified the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment and brought an end to the Prohibition era. With all of Capone’s success, personal safety was a common issue for him. As a leader in an illegal market such as the one Capone was a part of, blood was commonly shed. Throughout Capone’s career, there were many attempts at his life. Quite often after such an incident, Capone would flee to Michigan or Florida for a while in hopes of the violence to cooling down before he came back. One attempt at his life occurred in January of 1925. A coalition of rival gang members (George “Bugs” Moran, “Schemer” Drucci, and Earl “Hymie” Weiss) unsuccessfully attempted to kill Capone. Later that month Moran and Weiss managed to shoot and severely wound Capone's business partner Johnny Torrio. Torrio survived the incident but retired from the organization, leaving the Capone family in charge of the large, powerful business. Quite often to get back at a rival gang, Capone would attempt to assassinate members of their gang. Perhaps Capone planned the most well known murder of all time out. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, as it is commonly referred to, was executed by “Machine Gun” Jack McGurn. He was seeking revenge for an attempt on his life by the thugs Moran, Drucci, and Weiss. McGurn trapped the Moran gang in a garage from which they distributed alcohol. McGurn's men disguised themselves as police officers and pretended to raid the garage for bootlegging. Seven members of the Moran gang were present at the time. Believing that these men were real police officers, they surrendered without a fight. When Moran's men stood facing a wall with their hands up, McGurn's men shot and killed all seven gangsters. By sheer luck "Bugs" Moran was not at the garage at the time and escaped the slaughter. As a result of planning the slaughter, Capone gained national attention. In 1929, President Hoover ordered a crackdown on gangsters, specifically Capone. Because of this, Capone needed to figure out a way to relieve the legal and criminal pressures he was feeling. In response to Capone's violent handling of rivals, racketeers from around the country gathered in Atlantic City, New Jersey to form a commission to resolve disputes among members peacefully. The commission also reprimanded Capone publicly for his violence and tried to break up Capone's business monopoly in Chicago. In order to escape these pressures, Capone arranged for himself to be arrested on a minor charge of carrying a weapon, which resulted in a one-year prison term. This allowed Capone a break from legal and criminal pressures, and offered protection from rival gangs. To add to the legal and criminal pressure, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that illegal income could still be taxed, in 1927. With this, the government could pursue gangsters without becoming involved with the murders or prohibition violations. Before Capone's indictment, two other gangsters, Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti and Jack "Greasy Thumb" Guzik, as well as Capone's older brother Ralph, were convicted of tax evasion. On June 5, 1931, Capone was charged with 22 counts of income tax evasion. It is estimated that between 1924 and 1929, Capone did not pay over 200,000 dollars worth of taxes that he owed. In October of 1931, Capone was convicted of these charges and sentenced to $80,000 in fines and 11 years in prison. After almost three years of serving his prison term in Atlanta, Georgia, Capone was transferred to the newly built Alcatraz prison. He went on to serve eight of his eleven-year term, only to be released on November 16th, 1939. By this time, Prohibition had ended and the Capone organization became practically non-existent. Soon after his release from prison, Capone began felling extremely sick and weak because of untreated, third degree syphilis, which he obtained as a teenager. Al Capone eventually died on January 25th, 1947, quickly following his 48th birthday. 'John Joseph Gotti' John Gotti rose to the top of an organized crime empire and became one of the most infamous Americans of the 1980s. He survived three major trials, but state and federal prosecutors and investigators steadily chipped away at his crime family and eventually Gotti's luck ran out. Gotti had been a captain of the Gambino crime family for at least ten years before Paul Castellano, the boss, was shot and killed outside Sparks Steakhouse on 46th Street in Manhattan, New York on December 16th, 1985. Eight days later, Gotti celebrated being claimed the new leader of the family. He had joined the Gambino family in the 1960s and had been twice convicted of theft. In the mid 1970s he served two years of a four-year sentence for manslaughter. In 1979 he became a full member of the gang and one of its captains. His mentor was Aniello Dellacroce, the alleged underboss (second-in-command) of the Gambino family. When Dellacroce died of cancer on December 2, 1985, internal gang rivalries began to percolate. Selwyn Raab noted in the New York Times that, "The authorities have suggested that the death of Mr. Dellacroce, considered a peacemaker among competing factions in the family, cleared the way for the assassination of Mr. Castellano." Gotti's reign was to be brief and troubled. At the time he was installed as the gang's leader Gotti was under a federal indictment for racketeering under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (known as RICO) and faced state charges for assault. The assault charges were dismissed on March 25, 1986, after the victim failed to identify Gotti and an associate as the two assailants. Earlier in the trial prosecutors had argued that the complainant had been threatened, but the threats were never proven. The jury selection for Gotti’s federal trial began on April 7th, 1986. However, after ten days, including a delay because of a bomb threat, the judge unexpectedly postponed the trial date until August. A month later Gotti's bail was revoked. When Gotti's racketeering trial did recommence, before an anonymous jury, it was revealed that a Gambino soldier (a low-level gangster) was an informer who had secretly taped conversations with Gotti and other gangsters. However, neither the recordings nor any of the 106 witnesses proved fatal to Gotti's case and he was acquitted of racketeering and conspiracy charges on March 13, 1987. Along the way he had become a media celebrity. The tabloid newspapers nicknamed him the "Dapper Don" and pop artist Andy Warhol had painted his portrait for a Time magazine cover. It was even reported that he had read Machiavelli's The Prince while in jail. Soon after that, federal prosecutors quickly began building a new case against Gotti, contending that the Gambino family, which they alleged was led by Gotti, was a criminal organization, and thus in violation of RICO. More secret recordings, used as evidence in further trials of other Gambino associates, implicated Gotti and testified to his leadership of the gang. While prosecutors bided their time, Gotti's world grew more violent. Various Gambino associates were murdered or suddenly disappeared, and one union official was seriously wounded. A rival gang, the Genovese crime family, even plotted to assassinate Gotti, who was supposedly warned by the FBI. Gotti’s next arrest came on January 23rd, 1989. He was charged, and later indicted with conspiracy and assault in the May 1986 shooting of John F. O’Connor of the Carpenter’s Union. State prosecutors believed Gotti had ordered the notorious Westies gang. The trial began with the judge ruling that secret-wiretaps could be used as evidence by the prosecution. When things were looking gloomy for Gotti’s cause, John F. O’Connor was called in as a witness by the defense. Timothy Clifford of Newsday reported, "The union leader . . . surprised prosecutors by suggesting that union 'problems' could have led to the 1986 attack." A week later the ‘Dapper Don” was acquitted and had now gained a new nickname, the “Teflon Don.” John Gotti was now being portrayed by the media as a swashbuckling, Robin Hood type. Now, there were several signs that Gotti’s luck was quickly running out. In a new trial against Gotti that accused him of murdering five people and conspiring to murder a sixth person, his longtime lawyer, Bruce Cutler, and two others would not represent him. As Arnold Lubasch explained in a New York Times article, "The judge's ruling involved an unusual issue. The prosecution had sought the disqualifications because the lawyers appeared on secretly taped conversations that could be evidence about the Gambino operation and require them to testify in the trial." Albert Kreiger of Miami replaced Cutler. A more stunning setback came in November, 1991, when codefendant Salvatore-Sammy the Bull-Gravano decided to serve as a witness against Gotti in exchange for protection for him and his family under the Federal Witness Protection Program. Three days after that announcement the judge ruled that the jury would be sequestered and anonymous. On April 2nd, 1992, John Gotti was found guilty of committing eight murders, conspiring one, and income tax evasion. On June 23rd, 1992, he was sentenced to a life in prison without parole. He was sent to a solitary confinement cell at the federal penitentiary in Marion, IL. That prison is considered the harshest in the nation. In 1997 it was alleged that the Italian Mafia had given Gotti an ultimatum to step down. Also that year the Ravenite Social Club (the Gambino hideout) was closed down. Because the Gambino family had been weakened by killings and prison terms Gotti managed to hang onto his tenuous power through 1998, despite being diagnosed with possible throat cancer in September of that year. Gotti is still alive and serving his prison term. 'Favorite Scene From Scarface' Perhaps one of the most important (and cleared by the FCC) scenes from the movie Scarface, “Prosperity” shows what kind of lifestyle Tony Montana turns out living after running a prosperous drug-operation for many years. At first, it shows all of the money and positives things of his illegal activities, but in the end it shows his wife sitting at by her mirror snorting cocaine. That’s the lifestyle they chose to live, and that’s the lifestyle they will now live forever. Despite seeing a glorious lifestyle where the sky is the limit, you realize by the end of the movie that that lifestyle is fake and phony. Tony Montana cannot control his actions that have been created by his drug addiction so much that he begins to love his automatic M-16 rifle two or three times more than his very own wife. You begin to realize that these people do not really love each other. Tony’s wife married him for the drugs. It’s sad that this is the way these people had to live, but Tony Montana is hilarious throughout the movie with his crude humor and constant use of obscene language. While, I would not advise any parents to allow their children to see this movie, any adult or brave, young teenager would love this movie to no end. (Advertisements? Contact Enrique_Mendoza)